i'm a reporter for the "washington post" and i'm looking for mr. eugene allen, who i think worked at the white house with three administrations. he said i am that eugene allen. however, i worked for eight administrations. from harry truman to ronald reagan. and i almost dropped the phone. >> so then you knew you had a story. >> yes. >> and no one had talked to him in 34 years of service in the white house? >> 34 years. i went over there, of course, the very next day. a day later, because his wife said, yes, we'll talk to this writer, but you tell him that we both have doctors' appointments tomorrow. and so i waited a day, fairly nervous, hoping that they wouldn't change their mind. i went over there and sat with them throughout a whole day. at one point she said, honey, you can show him. and i didn't know what that meant. and he got up, frail man at that time, and asked me to hold his arm. he took me down in the basement and he turned on the light. it was like being swooped through a magical curtain into the land of oz. there were all these photogr